U hires McCutcheon to coach volleyball

• University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

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MINNEAPOLIS -- The University of Minnesota has hired Hugh McCutcheon to be the new volleyball coach at the school.

McCutcheon is the current head coach of the United States Women's Volleyball team and will continue that role through the end of the 2012 Olympics. In the meantime, current U of M assistant coach Laura Bush will serve as the acting head coach for the Golden Gophers. The 41-year-old McCutcheon will take over for longtime head coach Mike Hebert, who retired at the end of this past season. Hebert led the Golden Gophers to three appearances in the Final Four.

McCutcheon is originally from New Zealand and played men's college volleyball at BYU. But, he has Minnesota connections. McCutcheon is married to Minnesota high school volleyball legend Elisabeth "Wiz" Bachman. Bachman was a high school all-American at Lakeville High School and played college volleyball at UCLA from 1996-2000. She was a member of the 2004 USA Women's Olympic team in Athens , Greece , where they finished fifth.

McCutcheon was coaching the men's team at the 2008 Beijing games when Bachman's parents were attacked by a Chinese citizen. Her father Todd Bachman was killed and her mother Barbara was critically injured. The attacker committed suicide after the assault. The story made international headlines for weeks.

Tags: minnesota sports, proam, gophers, volleyball